That’s right. I’m sticking with my resolve to eliminate time busters and spend my writing time actually writing. I’ve been averaging about a chapter a day, helped in large part by my daughter.

Almost as soon as she’s off the bus each afternoon, she asks if I have a new chapter for her to read. As she eats her after-school snack du jour, she pours over the new pages. “I can’t believe Sheldon did that!” she might gasp. Even better is when she laughs mid-sentence.

I try desperately not to stand over her shoulder while she reads. Instead, I lurk nearby.

Knowing she’s going to expect pages—and looks forward to reading them—makes it all the easier to get to work.

And I think it’s inspired her, too. After all, she made a book for her brother, "The Adventures of Benny, Superhero of the Night," based on his claim back when he was 3 that he didn’t sleep at night. “I just cuddle. Or sometimes fly. But I can only fly at night.”